‘Babylon 5’ Star Michael O’Hare Dies, 60

Michael O’Hare, who played Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair during a single season of “Babylon 5” only to reprise the character a few times in later seasons, has died. He was 60.

J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of “Babylon 5,” announced O’Hare’s death Friday, adding that he had suffered a heart attack last week, and had been in a coma ever since.

O’Hare was a character actor who appeared in a number of shows in the 1980s and 1990, including “Tales from the Dark Side,” “L.A. Law” and “The Equalizer.” He first joined the pilot of “Babylon 5” as Cmdr. Jeffrey Sinclair, who came from a long line of fighter pilots and was born on the Mars Colony. However, after the first season of “Babylon 5,” Straczynski decided there needed to be a change at the top, and wrote out O’Hare’s Sinclair and instead replaced him with Bruce Boxleitner as John Sheridan, who would later become president of the Interstellar Alliance.

O’Hare would return for a handful of appearances in the second and third seasons, his role changed to ambassador.

After “Babylon 5,” O’Hare went back to character acting, appearing in episodes of “The Cosby Mysteries” and “Law & Order,” but he would essentially retire from screen acting in 2000.

O’Hare is the latest of the “Babylon 5” primary cast to have passed away in recent years. Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin in the series, died in 2004 at the age of 44. Andreas Katsulas, who played G’Kar in the series as well as a number of roles in other genre shows like “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Alien Nation,” died in 2006 at the age of 59.

Jeff Conaway, who played Security Chief Zack Allen, died last year at the age of 60.

Robert Michael O’Hare Jr. was born on May 6, 1952 in Chicago. He studied at both Harvard University and the Julliard School of Drama. He is survived by his wife of 14 years, Ruth O’Hare.